


Confessions of a serial killer.

by AsphyxiatedComatose



Category: Naruto
Genre: Blood, Character Death, Gen, Gore, Romance, Sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-15
Updated: 2016-11-21
Packaged: 2018-08-31 03:59:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8563030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsphyxiatedComatose/pseuds/AsphyxiatedComatose
Summary: Sakura felt Hidan’s body go rigid before he collapsed on top of her, damn he was heavy. She watched wide-eyed as the life from his eyes faded, and head fell beside her own. Her heart still hammered heavily, feeling the warmth of his blood soak through his shirt, to her own – her stomach churned and she could feel the bile rising in her throat.





	1. Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> This story is also posted on Adultfanfiction.net, I just wanted to move it here to share as well. 
> 
> Killing: noun - an act of causing death, especially deliberately. Synonyms: murder, assassination, homicide, manslaughter, elimination, putting to death, execution;

_‘’Did you see the way her face crumbled when she screamed…the way her lungs constricted, howling like a little bitch for its mother, how pathetic. I wouldn’t scream, I wouldn’t make a sound, why would you want them to know you’re in pain, that isn’t how you control your enemies – you don’t give in to what they want’’_

 

Seated behind thick two-way glass, Hidan’s voice echoed throughout the small room, through the little tape recorder sitting on the desk across from him. The way his chest rose and fell heavily as if he could barely breathe, the stain of yellow on his teeth from years of chewing tobacco and cigarettes. He didn’t care, he knew he was the one who was going to get caught, only one of 15 or 20 other crazed individuals, but they didn’t know that. They thought it was just him, they thought he was the only one capable of what had been done, the bloodshed, the endless torture day and night. The abandoned buildings, and farm houses; the piles of dead bodies, mangled or worse; the screams that no one heard now a faded nightmare – but they thought it was just him, he wouldn’t confess, no matter what they threatened him with; Death didn’t scare him, he was death.

 

‘’I remember the way she tasted…sweet, like vanilla…how she squealed like a little pig when I bent her over…’’

 

His dilated pupils stared; he stared knowing someone was watching and listening. They couldn’t harm him, he had lawyers…tons, the deadbeat ones who would defend anyone for a little cash; sick bastards.

 

‘’Know what I would do with you little girl…-‘’

 

‘’Alright, enough, we’ve seen heard enough!’’ Cracking sounds were heard when Kakashi Hatake pushed himself up, he’d been on this guy’s tail for 5 years; and even catching him brought no satisfaction. The metal chair and table made a scratching sound as he stood, rubbing the back of his neck. ‘’Come on, get up’’ Grabbing Hidan by the shoulder, a low cackle was sound – this guy was most definitely nuts. His head seemed barely attached as Kakashi pulled him out of the room, Hidan’s scent and presence lingered the moment he left, leaving the pinkette alone. It was as if she couldn’t handle it, she’d seen and heard a lot worse than this guy…but Hidan, they had been after him for years. Twenty four, with a psychology degree and her bachelors of science; Sakura Haruno was the best in her field.

 

The one door closed with a loud following bang as she stepped out, fixing her skirt in the process, a small black book in her hand and large folder in the other as she walked toward Kakashi’s office to give him the breakdown of what she seen today – she had been studying Hidan’s actions, and killing methods since she arrived; it wasn’t easy, having been grabbed, spit at, and worse – even still, she could handle it. The entire reason Kakashi hired her; The door to his office was open, and there he sat – running a hand through long silver locks of hair that looked out of place; stress was getting the better of him – he was definitely older than her, but he didn’t appear to be in his late thirties. The laugh lines on his face were faded, not overly visible – she approached his desk, throwing down a large folder with all of the photos, and notes, and whatever else he needed.

 

‘’So,’’ He exhaled, motioning for her to sit. ‘’What have you figured out, what can you tell me about our good friend Hidan…’’ Humor usually worked, but not this time. The pinkette looked quite pale, the usual pink color in her face and lips were faded; she sat down and crossed her legs before opening her mouth.

 

‘’Hidan is most definitely chronically aggressive,’’ She reached for her note book, and some photos. ‘’He expresses frequent anger, and poor impulse control, he believes violence is a legitimate response to interpersonal problems… a bit of a narcissistic individual…who craves attention and cannot stand to be deprived of desired gratifications-‘’

 

She paused, the look on his face was displeased; that wasn’t what he meant. ‘’Oh, you mean is he alone in all of this?’’ Her brow arched and lips thinned as her eyes scanned the bloody images of nameless people, the countless people that he slaughtered. ‘’Although it isn’t my job, nor do I get paid enough-‘’ she flipped through the photos, analyzing. ‘’-it goes without saying; he was not alone in these killings. Hidan had help, a lot of it.’’ She slammed the photos down, leaning forward, never breaking eye contact. ‘’He had help covering it up, though, I believe the most recent killing was his own – it was sloppy, and messy, like he wanted to be caught…as if to take the heat off of the others, whoever those others may be…’’She paused, leaning back in her chair. ‘’Except, that isn’t my place to say, it isn’t in my job description…’’

 

He chuckled just enough to relax, she was right; that wasn’t her job, but so far she hadn’t been wrong – only having worked with Kakashi for a year now, ‘’I know you don’t get paid enough,’’ Still grinning he slid the same folder back to her, keeping a few of the photos to send down to the proper department to analyze them. ‘’But I was hoping you could accompany me to the most recent crime scene.’’

 

Was he joking? Was that even legal…she stared at him a moment, the faint sounds of footsteps outside his office echoed in. ‘’Is that legal?’’

 

‘’Well technically you wouldn’t be allowed, but since you’re with me it’ll be alright, I’ll give you a badge just in case someone questions it… we’ll be going this afternoon, are you up for it?’’

 

‘’Why do you need me?’’

 

‘’don’t play dumb Haruno, you know why, you’re good at your job,’’ Running another hand through his hair, he looked at the clock, they still had three hours before then. ‘’How many more sessions do you have with him before he gets sent to the chair’’

 

Opening her little black book she glanced down, she had her appointments laid out perfectly. ‘’I have one more actually,’’

 

‘’See if you can get him to confess-‘’

 

‘’-but that isn’t my job’’

 

He sighed heavily, she wasn’t easy to crack. ‘’Alright, just do what you normally do, alright? I’ll see you at the crime scene this afternoon’’

 

‘’I’m not going there with you?’’ She stood up.

 

Kakashi stood up along with her, grabbing his jacket. ‘’No, you’ll be accompanied by an officer, see you at 1.’’

 

The crime scene itself was located just on the outskirts of town; the broad city was filled with mad people but none like Hidan that they knew of. The most recent slaughter was found in an old abandoned barn, formally owned by a nice man who passed away three years prior. The place itself was usually occupied with hobos, or teenagers up to no good- it was a few teens who discovered the two bodies, and video tapes, amongst other evidence that they needed to catch Hidan. The video itself was disturbing by any standards, that was one thing Sakura would never watch; she didn’t have the stomach to watch young children get skinned alive, or chopped into bits, or raped while half-dead, the thought of it made her head spin and stomach churn. They found the two bodies in pieces, an extensive amount of blood just about everywhere matching the two victims.

 

The barn was normally filled with hay stacks, broken wood, and old farm equipment, which Hidan used to his advantages. They found rusted old tools covered in blood, and guts; safe to assume what had happened. One body looked like a mangled scarecrow after he had his way with it, while the other was chopped in two – her face torn off and worn as a mask for his own enjoyment. It smelled of death and metallic, though they didn’t enter the scene without a mask; unlike Hidan’s other slaughter, this one wasn’t as clean, or as organized. The blood had been splattered everywhere, not a drop cleaned – normally when they found his cases, it was like someone with OCD came in and cleared the place…but usually there was some kind of evidence they found, usually by staying around the scene for a few days….but this time around, it was completely opposite.

 

Sakura tasted bile in the back of her throat the minute her nose smelled the scent of death. ‘’Jesus Christ,’’ She covered her mouth, being nudged by Kakashi with a face mask. The two of them entered, and the scene was something from a horror slasher movie. ‘’Sweet Christ…’’ She covered her already covered mouth, taking in the gruesome sight. ‘’That sick twisted bastard…’’ Muttering, she walked over to one of the covered bodies; it definitely wasn’t fresh, the rotting smells started to take effect but they had to get everything before closing the scene.

 

‘’Trust me, this isn’t the worst of it…’’ Kakashi motioned toward the two covered bodies. ‘’poor people, didn’t see it coming,’’

 

Hidan hadn’t confessed to any of it, they just caught him at the crime scene – oddly enough, he wasn’t too bright, getting rusty after all this time. Kakashi was unsure of what happened, but after talking to the investigators it seemed they were just normal people, one was a student and the other was a dental hygienist – normal, everyday people. He ran a gloved hand through his hair before uncovering the students face, she was the one who didn’t have her face cut off – she was so young. He shook his head, ‘’I wouldn’t look at that one if I were you…he tore her face off,’’ He explained to Sakura just as she was about to uncover the second.

 

‘’Sir,’’ A tall male approached, his hair was tied back and tired lines were more than obvious on his face; a single smoke rested behind his ear, he had on a long black trench coat, dressed formally beneath – Sakura blinked, it was Shikamaru, he was the investigator. ‘’We’ve found two witnesses to add to the case,’’

 

‘’Well,’’ Kakashi removed his gloves and wandered off with Shikamaru to get more details – leaving Sakura in the middle of it all.

 

There were people everywhere in white suits, grabbing as much information as they could – blood samples, skin samples, anything and everything. Sakura felt faint from all the blood, she found herself outside in the fresh air within seconds, standing alone she pulled out her cell – a few messages from Ino about tonight, and some from Hinata.

 

‘’Quite a sight huh,’’

 

She glanced to her left, Shikamaru was lighting up his cigarette, Kakashi must have went off with the witnesses back at the office – guess she would be going back alone. ‘’Um, yeah…’’ She looked down at her feet, the grass was dead around them – this place was abandoned for too long to have anything fresh grow. ‘’I’ve never seen anything like it,’’

 

He inhaled a drag of smoke, offering her some but she declined. ‘’Yeah, well this isn’t the worst of it.’’ He exhaled, shaking his head. ‘’We found a few other places that were his doing – sick fucking bastard, those poor innocent people’’

 

‘’you did? Were they like this one?’’ She asked, pulling out her note book – Shikamaru shook his head. ‘’No, they’re completely different, this guy isn’t defined by his blood shed…so it’s surprising to see a sight like this’’

 

Red flag; Hidan most definitely didn’t do this, he was just being framed for it somehow.

 

‘’Are you sure it was Hidan’s doing? He may not be alone, maybe he was framed for this one?’’

 

Shikamaru shrugged. ‘’That’s definitely a possibility that’s being considered, but we can’t jump to conclusions without more information…say are you even allowed to be here, Sakura?’’

 

She half-smiled, he knew Kakashi’s way, and the two of them have worked together for a period of time. ‘’Well, technically not…but Kakashi wanted me here.’’

 

‘’Makes sense,’’ He dropped the remaining cigarette below his foot, and exhaled the last of his smoke. ‘’Come on, I’ll give you a lift back to the office’’

 

It was around 4:30 PM after visiting the crime scene, Shikamaru dropped Sakura off and went on his way – he usually worked until 8 at night, getting more information on Hidan’s killings…though, it wasn’t all adding up. Hidan was known for hiding his messes, not leaving blood all over the walls; along with the bodies, Sakura bit her lip, going over some of her notes from previous sessions with him – she had been meeting with him for a few months over time, but usually it was just him saying nonsense…until today; she sat cross legged in a leather chair – skirt slightly hiked up, but the desk sheltered her from him seeing any flesh. The door to her office opened with two large officers, and Hidan in chains wrapped around his wrists, and ankles; they would stand outside the entire time – all she had to do was push a button the minute he started to do anything.

 

‘’Good evening,’’ She didn’t smile, she just watched him sit across from her – but his eyes weren’t on her like usual, they were elsewhere.

 

Looking as if he had no sleep, he slumped in his chair, chains rattling as he moved. ‘’well darlin’ get on wit it…’ His Australian accent kicked in, least it sounded Australian, Sakura sat straight with a pen and paper; waiting. ‘’I’m waiting on you’’ She stared. ‘’Is there anything you want to talk about today?’’

 

Silence.

 

It always started like this, she would ask him different questions, or say different things to see how he would react – and normally he would, but today he wouldn’t. She shifted in her chair, staring at him, but his eyes remained on the floor, or out the window as time went on. The sessions were normally an hour long – and it was already half over.

 

‘’I bet you look tasty bent over,’’ He finally spoke, his eyes on hers – staring further into her than she would have liked, though this wasn’t uncommon in her patients. Sakura just sat there, she wouldn’t react, she couldn’t. Hidan shifted forward so he was on the very end of the chair, as far as his chains would let him – he wasn’t close to her, or her desk; unable to get his hands on anything, safety precaution. ‘’-I bet you like it rough….you and that silver’haired guy….you probably let him bend you over that fuckin’desk and ram you till you bleed’’ Dry lips cracked as he smiled, licking the dryness away as he pictured her with her ass up and face down. ‘’I would fuck you till you bleed…till you beg me to stop, or maybe I’d shove my cock so far down your tight little throat until you asphyxiate on it, then I’d fuck your cold limp corpse’’ He paused, he didn’t blink, not even once. ‘’-I bet you’d like that, wouldn’t you …’’

 

Sakura swallowed, her eyes flickered to the clock and just as he was about to speak again, the door opened.

 

‘’Times up!’’ The large officer wandered in. ‘’Come on’’ He went to grab his shoulders, unlocking him from the chair – but that wasn’t the smartest decision. Hidan fisted both his hands in the direction of the cops head, bashing him directly in the temple – the large male stumbled backward, falling unconscious on the floor; He lunged forward over the Sakura’s desk; it was all too fast, she couldn’t react.

 

This had to happen today; he lunged into her chair – Sakura felt the pain shoot up her back as she slammed into the hard, marbled floor – Hidan’s chained body crashing down on top of her, where the fuck was the other cop? There was always supposed to be two; she screamed, loudly, hopefully someone would hear her – Hidan hushed her instantly with his lips. ‘’Mm fuck you smell sweet!’’ Pushing and hitting, Sakura’s adrenaline was pumping – trying to get him off, but it was no use, she was weak.

 

She could smell death on his breath as he smothered her mouth with his own, his tongue so deep in hers she could barely catch a breath. The sweet taste of her mouth, his tongue darted down further, his lips moving against hers so hard she could feel the swollen skin splitting from impact. She felt the large bulge between her bare legs, bad day to wear a skirt – he used his upper body strength to keep her pinned while he used his cuffed hands to push down his pants, just enough. ‘’Fucking bastard!!’’ She screamed, but he muffled her screams with his mouth – she bit down. ‘’You fucking cunt! You’ll pay for that’’ He lifted his hand, and smacked her hard in the mouth – making her bleed more, her face already starting to bruise. She could feel the tears rising, the lump in the back of her throat, but no way would she cry.

 

‘’That’s it, you’re fucking soaked! You like this kind of shit huh,’’ He pushed her skirt up, Sakura’s body struggling against him – who knew what kind of diseases he had caught, her heart hammered; looking around for something, anything to hit him with – ‘please no..’ she thought, feeling his body pushing toward hers.

 

‘’-Fucking hell! YOU BASTARD!’’

 

Gun shots went off, two rounds.

 

Sakura felt Hidan’s body go rigid before he collapsed on top of her, damn he was heavy. She watched wide-eyed as the life from his eyes faded, and head fell beside her own. Her heart still hammered heavily, feeling the warmth of his blood soak through his shirt, to her own – her stomach churned and she could feel the bile rising in her throat. Using the strength she had left, she pushed him hard and slightly to the side before rolling over.

 

Kakashi was there, not alone – after the gun shots were fired, about five officers were inside of Sakura’s office. ‘’Jesus fucking Christ!! Why was there only one of you!!?’’ He yelled, eyeing the unconscious officer that Hidan hit. ‘’Check and see if he’s okay, call the fucking medic for fuck sakes,’’

 

He was knelt down by Sakura in a matter of seconds, he pushed Hidan off of her legs, and pulled down her skirt before examining her face. ‘’You alright,’’ He asked, noticing the amount of damage he did to her face. ‘’He didn’t…’’

 

‘’No…’’Her voice was shaky, the lump in her throat pushing. ‘’I’m alright…’you got here just in time sir…’’ She felt dizzy and weak; her legs shook as Kakashi stood her up, and took her outside of the room. ‘’Fucking clean this shit up, I’ll be talking to you two idiots afterward,’’ He mentioned, looking at the now conscious officer, and the second who left his post.

 

‘’I’m so sorry,’’ He handed her an ice pack, sitting on the leather coach in his office, he dabbed her lip lightly. ‘’He did a number on your face…maybe take a few days off huh,’’ He suggested, the medic had already taken a look – nothing too bad, just a few bruises, and cut lip. Sakura didn’t speak, she just nodded.

 

‘’I’ll drive you home, you come back when you’re feeling better alright?’’ He smiled slightly, reassuring her. But it didn’t exactly reassure her, she was attacked in her office, where she should have been safe…but he almost raped her, he could have killed her….


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Figured I'd add the first chapter, it's fairly long. There may or may not be some spelling errors, I'll be adding the next couple chapters over the next few days. I haven't actually finished this story, so this may be my opportunity to do that. 
> 
> Hope you all enjoy :)

The drive to Sakura’s home was about twenty-five minutes give or take, she lived deep in the city, where new condominiums were being built one after the other. It wasn’t her first choice, she had plans on leaving but the job offer was too good to pass up and so she didn’t…which resulted in her getting almost raped/almost killed less than three years into her job – that wasn’t reassuring. The radio played softly, the fresh air felt nice on her skin; fall air always felt fresh no matter what the weather.  
  
  
  
Being a woman in this field was difficult, the administrative part was the easiest job next to the receptionist…why couldn’t she just have an easy job…she restrained from biting her lip – feeling it already begin to pulsate after removing the ice-pack, he really hit her hard… ‘’This is you, isn’t it?’’  
  
  
  
Kakashi’s soft voice caught her off guard and she slumped in the passenger seat. ‘’Yeah,’’ The tall glass building went on for miles, one of the tallest new buildings in the area. ‘’This is me…’’ She didn’t look at him as she removed her seat belt and grabbed her keys. As she spoke her lip split which caused her to start bleeding again, she felt the blood dribble slightly on her chin – Kakashi noticed, but she was already half way out of his vehicle.  
  
  
  
‘’Listen Sakura, if you-‘’  
  
  
  
‘’I know, I’ll be in when I’m feeling better,’’ She replied, back to him as she slammed the door – grasping her keys so tightly they started making indents in her fingertips.   
  
  
  
‘’Yeah, we got her home…’’ Kakashi sat with his phone to his ear as he watched her walk into the building, his eyes straight ahead as he pulled out onto the main road. ‘’What’s the damage with the gun shots? Is he alive?’’  
  
  
  
‘’I wouldn’t say technically, the machines are keeping him alive – they want to examine his body, see if they can find anything’’ Shikamaru spoke on the other line, keeping his tone calm. ‘’We talked to the officers, apparently they didn’t fucking realize what time it was, bunch of brain dead idiots…’’He exhaled, definitely smoking, he was never not smoking. ‘’Keep an eye on her eh, she’s probably freaking out,’’  
  
  
  
Kakashi nodded, hanging up the phone – he would most definitely be by to check on her. The sun was setting as he headed back to the office.  
  
  
  
Heel’s clicking, Sakura dropped her bag and coat on her kitchen counter, and removed her shoes – unbuttoning her shirt; she felt pain on her chest, and sides, and back; the adrenaline must have been wearing off – sooner than she’d like, the pain was overwhelming. The impact of her hitting the hard floor was enough to break a bone, but luckily she just came out bruised and bloody. Touching her side, she winced as she approached the bathroom, a shower would do her good – and if she didn’t wash away the blood on her face, Ino would most definitely know something happened – last thing she needed, bride to be to be worried over nothing.  
  
  
  
The taps felt cold as she turned them toward the hot water, loud noises heard from inside the buildings pump system beneath the walls, she pulled down her skirt, removed her undergarments and let the hot water sting her skin – it felt nice, but being a bit of a masochistic it didn’t bother her as much as it would someone else. Closing her eyes she pictured him on top of her, she felt sick – bending over, grasping her knees; she stared at the tiles below her; watching the blood from her lip circle the drain. A loud knock echoed through her one bedroom, it was obviously Ino – was it already 8, damn. She was late, the knock came again, louder, followed by her lock being turned – Ino was the only one with her second set of keys, just in case Sakura forgot her own.  
  
  
  
‘’Hey! Sakura, you home?’’ A familiar voice echoed down into her bedroom, into the bathroom as she stepped out of the shower, she cringed – a sharp pain went up her spine, grabbing a towel she covered herself, being careful to cover the bruises; the bruise on her lip was obvious, but she knew how to cover it up. ‘’Yeah! Just got out of the shower,’’  
  
  
  
‘’Jesus! You could have called if you were going to be late you know!’’ Ino’s voice bounced off the hollow walls, Sakura could hear her digging around in her kitchen for a coffee mug, bad habit; coffee was terrible, to her anyway. She managed to cover her lip just enough that Ino wouldn’t notice; though the pain was still very much there. Running a hand through her hair, she grabbed a brush and threw it up into a messy bun before returning to her room, Ino was there with a mug in her hand, legs crossed in sweats. ‘’why are you showering before the gym…’’  
  
  
  
‘’I had a long day, I needed to.’’ Lying was one thing she wasn’t bad at, she pulled a pair of sweats on and a baggy t-shirt, making sure everything was covered. ‘’We’re going to the gym? I thought we were just being lazy, grabbing breakfast or a bowl of ramen,’’ The pain in her back wasn’t ignorable; she wanted to scream, but she didn’t.  Ino sighed, sipping her hot cup of coffee. ‘’Well, Sai won’t be meeting us there for another hour…’’ Her eyes wandered, she caught sight of a bruise on Sakura’s collar bone. ‘’Jesus, what is that?’’  
  
  
  
Panic. ‘’What’s what?’’ She stared, Ino stood up and pointed. ‘’Your collar bone is bruised…’’  
  
  
  
Sakura swallowed, wide-eyed – why did all of it have to happen today of all days, why not tomorrow, the blonde’s serious expression melted into a sly-smile. ‘’You’re totally having rough sex with Kakashi, aren’t you? I KNEW IT!’’ She giggled frantically. ‘’I don’t blame you, he’s got a nice ass, most def.’’  
  
  
  
The panic she felt reseeded as she sat down on the coach, curling her legs in. ‘’No Ino, I’m not screwing my boss…’’  
  
  
  
‘’and why the hell not! It’s about time you got laid, how long has it been! I mean seriously!’’  
  
  
  
Sakura ignored her horny best friend; poor thing wasn’t getting laid because Sai wanted to wait until after they were married, classy guy…but she just found him weird. ‘’Anyway, when are we going for noodles,’’  
  
  
  
‘’Well we can go now; Sai’s bringing his cop friends!’’  
  
  
  
‘’Cop friends?’’ She arched a brow.  
  
  
  
The bright light from Ino’s phone lit up her face. ‘’Well, one of them is a cop, least I think so,’’  
  
  
  
‘’I would know them if they’re cops.’’  
  
  
  
Ino shrugged, pushing herself up. ‘’Maybe you do! Who cares! Maybe you can totally hook up with them!’’ She smiled.  
  
  
  
The idea of getting dressed and going out with a bunch of strangers was not appealing to Sakura, especially after what happened earlier, she changed into a pair of jeans and a comfortable t-shirt, her phone rang. It was Kakashi, must be checking in. ‘’Hey,’’  
  
  
  
‘’Hey, feeling better?’’  
  
  
  
She rubbed the back of her neck. ‘’Is he still alive? because I’d really like to sue him or something…’’ She trailed off, humor was a thing…it usually worked but Kakashi wasn’t laughing.  
  
  
  
‘’Listen, Shikamaru said he found something at one of the other crime scenes, something that leads us to believe what you said could be true,’’  
  
  
  
Sakura closed her door; this was private information not even Ino could hear, or even know about. ‘’About him not being alone?’’  
  
  
  
‘’Yeah, listen, I won’t keep you, but I’d just thought I’d give you the heads up’’  
  
  
  
Click.  
  
  
  
Shivers traveled down Sakura’s back; there was more than one, more than him…but how many… The thought made her stomach ache and lip pulsate – she grabbed her jacket and headed out the door with Ino.  
  
  
  
\--  
  
  
  
Photos of the most recent crime scene were laid out flat on a glass marble top, photos of the killings, and photos of the other crime scenes with unidentified bodies. ‘’Hidan failed his mission, he was caught in section A at the old abandoned farm house, we can’t confirm if he’s alive or not sir.’’  
  
  
  
‘’It wasn’t Hidan’s mission, it was yours. You failed; you left him with the mess. Hidan always cleaned his messes, you framed him like I told you to do – we needed a dog, I used him. Now find out if he’s dead, and then kindly fuck off.’’  
  
  
  
‘’with pleasure sir,’’ The silver hair male bowed slightly, glasses shimmering from the light of the large office, two body guards stood side by side outside of the door as Kabuto left Orochimaru’s office. But Orochimaru wasn’t the one he was afraid, it was who Orochimaru worked for that would pull his intestines out through his nose and feed them back through his mouth; keeping him alive in the process.  
  
  
  
‘’So what will we do about Hidan sir,’’ A female’s voice echoed, bouncing off the hollow walls of his office. ‘’I mean, we’d been using him for five years, they know something is up –‘’  
  
  
  
‘’and how do you have such Intel on Hidan, Karin? Do you have someone working on the inside that I’m unaware of, because if you’re keeping things from me –‘’ He slammed his pen down, cracking the marble glass table. ‘’I’ll be sure to make you his replacement.’’  
  
  
  
She swallowed, she did have someone on the inside, but that wasn’t her decision.  ‘’I do apologize sir but that was not my decision,’’  
  
  
  
‘’Alright,’’ He picked up the pen, flipping it over his longer slender fingers – his long uncut finger nails looked like they could rip right through you, his rings clinking together. ‘’Who is it?’’  
  
  
  
‘’who is w-who sir?’’  
  
  
  
‘’the inside man.’’  
  
  
  
Karin could feel the sweat start to pool on her forehead, she’d always working with Orochimaru, but since this new guy came into the photo – even he seemed as if he was always scared, she didn’t move. ‘’Suigetsu, he’s posing as cop within the office…he tells me that they’re keeping Hidan alive on machines…’’  
  
  
  
Orochimaru’s fingers curled around the pen before thrusting it into Karin’s side, piercing whatever organ got in its way. The motion was so quick she didn’t feel the pain until she felt him remove the pen seconds after stabbing her. ‘’Next time you go behind my back,’’ He sat back down, dropping the pen into the garbage. ‘’I’ll feed you to my dogs, you’re excused Karin…and please, don’t bleed all over my floor on the way out.’’  
  
  
  
\--  
  
  
  
‘’Mm, this smells so good’’ Ino inhaled the mixture of spices and meat in her ramen bowl, her mouth started to water the moment she saw the food coming.  
  
  
  
The ramen hut was surprisingly busy, nothing closed at night in this town – it was busy constantly, not that anyone was complaining. A lot of people got off late and liked to enjoy a real meal instead of just fast-food. The smell of the noodles was delicious, but Sakura couldn’t help but feel nauseous the entire time she sat there, pretending she was perfectly fine – what Kakashi had told her really caught her off guard, so much for relaxation – no way was she doing that, she couldn’t – she wanted to know who else could be doing such cruel and horrible deeds, and for what? She didn’t understand it, even as a psychiatrist.  
  
  
  
‘’Are you not enjoying your meal, Sakura?’’  
  
  
  
Sai’s sudden question caught her off guard, she almost dropped the cup of tea she had placed against her lips – the sensation of the hot temperature calmed her a bit. Sai was odd…even for Ino’s standards, but Ino liked hot guys, and Sakura couldn’t deny that the guy was good looking – she placed her cup down and forced a smile at him. ‘’I’m fine, I’m just taking it slow, I like to enjoy my food, slow….’’ That sounded even dumber aloud than it did in her head, she swallowed – why on earth did she feel nervous, no need to around these two. ‘’Anyway! You two must be excited! Your wedding is next month’’  
  
  
  
‘’Oh yes!!’’ Ino set down her chop sticks; she would never shut up on the topic of her marvelous wedding plans. ‘’I’ve arranged everything! Now it’s just a waiting game.’’ She smiled, rather largely – Sakura nodded, wide-eyed as two men approached the table.  ‘’Oh, you two made it.’’ Sai stood up, being polite.  
  
  
  
Sakura didn’t recognize either of the tall men who approached – Ino mentioned one of them being a cop but maybe she was mistaken. Where she worked, and in this town, she knew every single officer on the team, including the undercovers.  One was tall with white hair with a very serious expression on his face, while the other looked a little bit goofy… she stared, and they caught on. ‘’I remember you,’’ The white hair man sat down and ran a hand through those thick locks. ‘’I wanted to apologize personally to you Sakura,’’  
  
  
  
How did he know her name…she stared. ‘’Um, I’m sorry,’’ she blinked, doe-eyed. ‘’Have we met?’’  
  
  
  
He looked a bit taken back and laughed, lightly, as if he was nervous. ‘’Well, not technically, I’m new…’’ He rubbed the back of his neck. ‘’But, I was the officer on duty…while um...’’  
  
  
  
‘’-Oh’’ She clued in, he was the officer who left his post – she looked away; ‘’That’s okay,’’ She lied, it was not okay in the slightest. ‘’We all make mistakes.’’  
  
  
  
‘’what’s Suigetsu talking about?’’ Sai looked at her, and looked back at his friend. ‘’Did something happen?’’  
  
  
  
‘’nothing, nothing happened,’’ She stood up, leaving her untouched noodles. ‘’I have to go, I got a call from my boss earlier – he wants me in the office tonight,’’ Another lie, Ino bought it, but Sai didn’t – Sai could read people way too easily. ‘’Excuse me gentlemen,’’ She forced a smile, forcing it a bit too much, her lip split and it started bleeding through the make-up she used to conceal it.  
  
  
  
‘Damnit.’  
  
  
  
‘’Sakura, your lip!’’ Ino grabbed her by the arm. ‘’Come on now you’re being weird, let’s get you to the washroom,’’ She smiled, and Sakura didn’t hesitate, it would be weird if she just ran out…  
  
  
  
‘’Jesus, what happened to your lip?’’ Ino dapped it lightly with a wet piece of paper towel. ‘’It looks like someone hit you,’’ She paused. ‘’DID someone hit you!?’’  
  
  
  
‘’No Ino, no one hit me, I hit it myself,’’ She shrugged, slumping her shoulders as Ino applied some medicine to it. ‘’Clumsy me…’’  
  
  
  
‘’Well you need to be more careful, no guy wants lazy gal!’’  
  
  
  
‘’you clueless bastard,’’ Sai smacked Suigetsu in the head. ‘’You’re gonna get yourself fucking killed if you’re not more cautious in there.’’  
  
  
  
‘’I had to piss man! I couldn’t help it!’’  
  
  
  
‘’Well next time, you better fucking hold it – he’s gonna have my fucking head because of you, Hidan’s out, we have to find a fucking replacement,’’  
  
  
  
‘’what about that guy? He’s kind of new though….’’ He pointed toward his friend. ‘’I mean he’s pretty clueless, we could pay him well-‘’  
  
  
  
‘’you don’t make that fucking decision you moron.’’  
  
  
  
Another smack before the two of them sat down – now Sai had to get his hands dirty, the clueless knucklehead brought them over beer, poor sucker – he may be killed before the night was out.  
  
  
  
‘’I’m just saying Sakura; no man wants a woman with bruised lips! Or chapped for that matter.’’ Ino sat back in her seat next to Sai, and smiled; he smiled back – she had no idea, and neither did Sakura.  
  
  
  
Close to three hours passed in the busy ramen hut, people coming and going as the night went on – it wasn’t unusual, really. Normally when Ino dragged Sakura into this place it was crawling with hungry business men, and women. The conversation was far from a serious one, Sakura unconsciously kept touching her lip, as if to check if it was bleeding at random times from the heat of her food, the ramen was absolutely delicious but her mind was elsewhere – she couldn’t concrete on the taste of her food. The atmosphere was nice, but Sakura felt tension; the way Sai continued to stare at her, at her lip – she knew he could read people, but he wouldn’t stop staring, The pain in her back was really starting to get to her, but the slow intake of alcohol was masking it.  
  
  
  
Ino hiccupped obnoxiously; she was known to have bad hiccups when drinking pure vodka martinis. Sakura knew that later she would most definitely have to help Sai get her into the cab, that girl knew how to party, and she never wanted to go home no matter how intoxicated she managed to get herself but it was Sai’s wallet she was draining, never her own. ‘’I think you’ve had enough,’’ Sai muttered, his arm around Ino as she nuzzled her face into his armpit – Sakura laughed, she wasn’t nearly as intoxicated.  
  
  
  
‘’Just give her more to eat,’’ She explained, picking at her bruschetta. ‘’Here Ino, have some bread,’’ She handed her some, and she ate – but Sakura was stuck with a sober Sai and this idiot cop named Suigetsu that nearly got her killed. ‘’So,’’ She looked at the white haired male who was on his fifth beer. ‘’You’re new huh?’’  
  
  
  
Sai looked at Suigetsu, as if he was telling him not to fuck anything up more than he already had, but Sakura didn’t notice the way Sai was acting – she didn’t pay any attention as he spoke.  
  
  
  
‘’Well! Honestly, this whole job is new…I mean I just finished my schooling – ‘’ He smiled, but stopped soon after. He knew he couldn’t give too much detail to her, or Sai would have him killed too – he was capable of murder without even a second thought. ‘’So you’re just really new at your job, we all make mistakes.’’ She hinted to earlier and took a sip of her drink. ‘’Excuse me guys, ‘’ She smiled and headed for the washroom.  
  
  
  
The door chimed and in walked three men, dressed semi-casual, least one of them was. The first male who walked in was tall, with broad shoulders – a very serious look on his face. Those dark eyes stared, looking around the establishment – the second male was dressed down, just in jeans and a simple tee; his blonde hair messily hanging in his blue eyes, a big grin on his face. As for the third, he was dressed semi-casual as well, resembling the first male who entered. ‘’Man! It smells good!!’’  
  
  
  
‘’Shut up Naruto, let’s get a seat…’’ Sasuke muttered, watching his older brother approach the table where Sai, Ino and Suigetsu were seated.  
  
  
  
‘’Ah Itachi!’’ Sai stood up instantly, leaving Ino semi-unconscious beside him. ‘’excuse my fiancé’…she’s had a little too much to drink,’’ His voice was in low tones – Sakura still hadn’t returned from the washroom, but it gave him little time. ‘’Do you have what I need?’’  
  
  
  
Itachi Uchiha pulled out a small envelope and handed it to Sai. ‘’Tell your boss I’m not interested, and to leave my family out of It.’’  
  
  
  
‘’But Itachi, he is _your_ family…’’  
  
  
  
‘’Not to me he isn’t.’’ He paused, watching Sakura approaching their table, which meant to leave. ‘’Enjoy your noodles, Sai.’’ He unbuttoned the front of his jacket, making brief eye-contact with the pinkette before departing to his own table where Sasuke and Naruto were currently picking out their food.  
  
  
  
‘’who was that?’’ She asked her curiosity and cautiousness chiming in – after what happened in her office, she was more paranoid than ever, especially after what Kakashi had said. ‘’Anyone I know?’’ She smiled, trying to ease the tension now that Ino had passed out. It wasn’t as if she and Sai didn’t have anything in common, they both enjoyed the arts, amongst other thing but it was very rare that they’d sit down and have an actual conversation without Ino being involved.  
  
  
  
‘’Just a friend of a friend,’’ He lied, but Sakura couldn’t really tell that he was lying – normally with her profession she would catch it instantly… but with him, she just couldn’t read him; a closed book. ‘’We could invite him and his friends back to the table if you’d like, Ino and I have gone out with them a few times before,’’ Another lie, they’d never gone out on a date, or just a casual hangout. It was strictly business, The Uchiha name was known by the biggest of criminals; though, Madara Uchiha, and Obito Uchiha were the worst kind of criminals. Itachi Uchiha had been dealing with his family name since he was eighteen, he didn’t want his younger brother involved so he decided to get out – though, it wasn’t as simple as he was hoping it would be.  
  
  
  
‘’Right…’’ Sakura finished her last drink and looked at the clock, it was 11:30, and Ino was not waking up. ‘’I better get her home, you can stay here Sai…I don’t mind cabbing it home with Ino.’’ She smiled. ‘’Besides, I’m sure you and Suigetsu want to enjoy more drinks,’’  
  
  
  
Sai shook his head, leaving money on the table. ‘’No need, I’ll take her.’’ He half-smiled, just enough to seem friendly; was it just her, or was he acting really weird…she bit her lip, forgetting about the bruise just momentarily before making it bleed once again. ‘’I should get going, let me know if you guys make it home safely, okay Sai? Er, nice seeing you Suigetsu…’’ She grabbed her purse, paid her bill and headed home – she needed to call Kakashi ASAP.  
  
  
  
Sai smiled, but it didn’t seem friendly – then again, his smiles were never friendly, not since him and Ino started dating a year prior, but she loved him and Sakura never doubted Ino’s taste in men, Sai managed to sweep her off her feet, unlike Sakura…she wasn’t really into dating, sure sex was good, but what twenty-four year old wasn’t into that. She felt sick to her stomach, her lip was bleeding again – but she really needed to call Kakashi, he was her only security, least that’s how she felt – he was the head of the police force, private investigator…you name it, he basically did everything.  It was impressive, not that she would admit that to him. ‘’Your lip is still bleeding, you may want to get that looked at,’’ Suigetsu said, smiling slightly – tension was there, it never left since Suigetsu arrived, and his goofy friend who seemed oblivious to everything around.  But she felt tension and it made her stomach churn.  
  
  
  
‘’Um yeah,’’ She pressed her fingers to her lip so the blood wouldn’t drip. ‘’I’m going to go to the ladies room first, thank you for noodles, Sai, Suigetsu,’’ She bowed politely and walked in the direction of the washroom, feeling a bit light headed as she rounded the corner – bumping straight into Naruto, the blonde who came in with Itachi – though, she wouldn’t know that.  
  
  
  
‘’Oh my god, I’m so sorry!’’ She bowed a second time in apology, rubbing her forehead after colliding with his.  ‘’I’m all over the place,’’ She felt that lump begin to surface again, but she swallowed it back – hoping it would just go away like before, no way would she cry in a public place…especially in front of Sai and his stupid cop-friend who lacked the effort to protect her.  
  
  
  
‘’No, it’s my fault,’’ The tall, blonde man smiled, and he was laughing? Sakura stared momentarily, she felt warm and relaxed suddenly – like he was light from the sun, or something. ‘’I’m clumsy,’’ His grin stretched, and she couldn’t help but smile. ‘’Hey…’’ He leaned forward. ‘’Your lip is bleeding! I didn’t do that did I?!’’ He waved his arms, putting his hands up into a defensive mode. ‘’I didn’t mean to! I swear!’’  
  
  
  
Sakura blinked…he was acting as if she was going to hit him – and she couldn’t help but laugh which caused him to stare, this time becoming absolutely enamored with her. ‘’Ne…you have a really cute laugh ya’know…’’ He leaned forward, almost backing her up against the wall – his arm rested on the wall above her head as she came to the realization of what he was doing. ‘’Err…’’ She stared up, him being quite taller than her and she turned red, only slightly before shaking her head and dipping underneath his arm and excusing herself into the ladies room.  
  
  
  
‘’What was that all about dobe?’’ Sasuke asked, witnessing the entire thing from the booth. ‘’You shouldn’t bother people while they’re eating.’’ He ate a few bites of sushi as Naruto sat down, big grin on his handsome face.  
  
  
  
‘’You’re just jealous! She wasn’t eating, we bumped into each other, it’s fate.’’  
  
  
  
‘’Fate?’’ Sasuke slightly smirked, and shook his head.  
  
  
  
‘’You don’t believe in fate little brother?’’ Itachi asked, enjoying his green tea and noodles.  Sasuke rolled his eyes, resting his chin on the palm of his hand as he inhaled more food – he didn’t answer him as the three enjoyed their meal, Sakura was panicking in the washroom.  Her fingers shook as she dialed Kakashi’s number.  
  
  
  
‘’Hey, everything alright Sakura,’’ It was around midnight by the time she finally got to her phone, she felt like breaking down – but she couldn’t, not in public. ‘’Would you mind picking me up,’’ Her hands weren’t the only thing that was shaking; she could barely keep it together. ‘’What’s going on,’’ Concern was clear in his tone as he grabbed his car keys.  
  
  
  
‘’Something isn’t right, my friend passed out, and her boyfriend’s friend is that sketchy cop who left his post.’’ She spoke softly, almost a whisper – afraid someone was listening, but no one really was…it was mainly the shock from what had happened earlier in the day. ‘’I’ll be right there, stay around other people, okay?’’ Click.  
  
  
  
After he hung up, Sakura felt the bile rise in her throat, she hurled herself into a stall, and leaned over the toilet within seconds of her throwing up all of her supper, including the bruschetta, what a total waste of money – she sat there for a few minutes, the saliva in her mouth heavy as she lingered there. Flushing the toilet, she stood and wiped her mouth before splashing her face with cold water – she looked pale, her lip looked and felt infected – but be from eating before it healed properly; she sighed, running a hand through her hair before digging through her purse – she applied a little bit of concealer under her eyes, and some around her swollen lip – unfortunately not having any medicine for her lip didn’t help, so she just substituted with some lip balm.  The lighting in the washroom made her look washed out, and sick, but the lighting in the main room was the kind that gave her a fresh orange glow – as if she was tanning.  
  
  
  
Kakashi’s voice was in the back of her mind, he would be at least twenty minutes, but luckily for her Sai was gone, including Suigetsu and his friend – she inhaled a breath of relief as she wandered out – but standing around would just be awkward…she looked around the room and spotted the blonde guy who hit on her earlier, she guessed it wouldn’t be too bad waiting around him, he was friendly enough…even if he did hit on her. Being confident, she approached the table…soon noticing the intimidating dark hair male sitting next to him, she stopped mid-step and stared; and he stared back. She didn’t move, just stared. ‘why is he staring…’ she thought, feeling paranoid – but the chimes above the door distracted her; it was Kakashi, he must have been closer than she thought, that or he was speeding the whole time.  
  
  
  
‘’Hey, you alright,’’ He noticed how pale she was, and worry was obvious on his face. He looked around, searching for Suigetsu so he could yell at him some more but he was nowhere to be seen, Kakashi ran a hand through his hair, and paused on Itachi Uchiha – he knew him, he had a bit of a criminal record…but he also helped out the cops a few times too, he wondered what he was doing there before he noticed Naruto and Sasuke sitting with him. ‘’Come on Sakura, I’ll take you home…’’  
  
  
  
The two of them starting exiting but not before Itachi interrupted. ‘’Mr. Hatake, uh, hey, been awhile…’’ He smiled, briefly. ‘’Nice to see you doing well,’’  
  
  
  
‘’You too Itachi, how are things,’’  
  
  
  
The entire situation felt awkward, Sakura stood beside Kakashi with her head hung low – she felt sick to her stomach and just wanted to crawl into her warm bed, but both Naruto and Sasuke were staring at her and it wasn’t helping. ‘’Hey! You again!’’ Naruto grinned like a fool which in turn got him hit by Sasuke. ‘’Leave her alone dobe, she clearly isn’t interested in you’’ Sasuke muttered, chewing his food – but he continued to stare at her, noting her bruised lip and the way her body language read – he instantly assumed Kakashi was beating her. Bad assumption on his part, ‘’Anyway, I must be going, it was nice seeing you.’’ He bowed politely, and hurried Sakura outside.  
  
  
  
‘’Man, did you see her lip?’’ Sasuke looked at his brother. ‘’That man was beating her,’’  
  
  
  
Itachi laughed. ‘’Don’t assume little brother, that was Kakashi Hatake, head of the police force…he was probably protecting her.’’  
  
  
  
Once they reached Kakashi’s vehicle, she felt a lot more safe…least, as safe as she could.  The seat belt felt heavy as she strapped herself in, slumping in her seat as Kakashi started the engine. ‘’So your best friend’s fiancé…he’s friends with Suigetsu?’’  
  
  
  
‘’Supposedly,’’ Sakura stared out the window. ‘’If it’s okay with you sir, could you please just take me home…’’  
  
  
  
‘’Of Course, Sakura, you just relax’’  
  
  
  
A few days had past, and Sakura spent most of it in bed; like Kakashi told her to do – no way was she going out until her lip healed, and it did, not leaving any scars thank god, she didn’t want to live with the reminder of being attacked. He had given her a full week off of work, the night after he dropped her off Sakura slept for about 24 hours, not leaving her apartment once – not even to talk to a very hung over Ino, until today that was. The two of them met for breakfast, more or less brunch since either of them were morning people, Sakura’s lip healed nicely but she didn’t wear makeup usually to cover anything up – her hair was pulled back and the weather was warm. ‘’I’m so sorry I got so drunk,’’ She sipped her tea, looking at the small menu, the two of them sitting outside of the tiny café. ‘’you know how I am with alcohol,’’ She smiled, trying to figure out what she wanted, there was so much to choose from – biscuits, fruit trays, you name it; all healthy deliciousness. ‘’How late did you end up staying anyway,’’  
  
  
  
The cold glass of lemonade felt refreshing on Sakura’s skin as she twirled her straw around the ice in her cup, her mind was elsewhere – she wanted to get some insight on this new cop Suigetsu, but she didn’t want to come off as suspicious to anyone. ‘’Yoo-hoo, earth to Sakura’’  
  
  
  
‘’Oh, sorry Ino,’’ She half-smiled and took a sip of her drink before looking at the menu. ‘’Didn’t Sai tell you,’’  
  
  
  
‘’Tell me what?’’  
  
  
  
‘’Oh never mind,’’ She shrugged, not wanting to mention too much to her in case she decided to blab to Sai herself. ‘’So when are we shopping for cakes?’’ She changed the subject to Ino’s wedding, it always distracted her no matter what kind of a conversation they were having, she’d never seen someone so dedicated.  
  
  
  
‘’Well!!! I picked out three different ones, but I’m not sure which one…I mean, there’s this pure chocolate raspberry tart, a vanilla one, and another…but I don’t recall the flavor!’’ She laughed as the waiter approached, Sakura knew who he was – it was the blonde from a week ago that tried feeling her up in the hall of the restaurant, but he made her feel all warm and fuzzy.  
  
  
  
‘’Well well!’’ He was grinning, of course. ‘’what a small world!’’  
  
  
  
Naruto was dressed in all black with an apron around his waist, he actually looked kind of cute in his work attire, and both girls couldn’t deny that. ‘’nice to see you again,’’  
  
  
  
‘’um, you too,’’ Sakura half-smiled, getting funny looks from Ino.    
  
  
  
Naruto sat down at the empty chair between the two of them before resting his head on the palm of his hand; his charm was actually working, even Ino was buying it. ‘’I never did catch your name,’’  
  
  
  
‘’her name is Sakura!’’ Obnoxiously, Ino told him her name, which in turn Sakura wanted to knock her out – now he knew her name, oh god. ‘’Sakura? That’s beautiful ya know…I’m Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki!’’ That smile, did it ever go? – Anytime out of the small amount of time she had seen him and been around him, he was smiling…it was kind of creepy to her, but also…warm and fuzzy.  
  
  
  
‘’Nice to meet you, technically,’’ Sakura sipped some of her drink, remembering the guy who was with him – that dark haired guy, did he work here too?  
  
  
  
‘’So! Naruto! I’m Ino,’’ She held out her hand. ‘’How do you and my friend know one another’’  
  
  
  
‘’We met at the ramen hut just last week, I didn’t really introduce myself properly last time’’  
  
  
  
Ino arched a brow in Sakura’s direction, but she was standing. ‘’Excuse me, ladies room!’’ Before Ino could even say a word, she’d ran off inside of the café – leaving Naruto to ask more about her, and Ino was more than willing to share what she knew.  
  
  
  
The café itself was cute, it was connected to a bar – which meant it usually got busy around 7:00pm when all the business men got off work for a drink, all the tables and chairs matched, it was a lounge-like setting,  however the food was delicious and she could never say no to good food. It was dimly lit inside, her eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness as she moved through, excusing herself to any bystanders.  She didn’t actually need to use the wash room, she just wanted an excuse to escape the pervert….but even though he was charming, he still made her feel warm and fuzzy – which was a love/hate thus far. The ladies room was clean, with towels instead of paper to dry her hands if needed – she looked in the mirror, looking a lot better now that her lip was healed and the bruises had faded; she didn’t need the constant reminder on her face.  
  
  
  
Moving to fix her hair, she managed to break the elastic holding her thick pink locks together, and she didn’t have another – so much for a lazy hair day…running her slender fingers through it, she tried her best to make it look decent…lucky there was a nice breeze, so it wasn’t exactly humid which meant it wouldn’t turn into a bad hair day – not what she needed. She stood in the wash room for a solid 10 minutes, she wasn’t really in the mood to talk with Naruto, she just wanted to eat. Her stomach growled as she exited out of the washroom, almost knocking over someone else – jeez, was this becoming a habit? She looked up, and a very pissed off Uchiha stared back at her, holding a bottle of liquor – must be the bartender, but she recognized him.  It was Sasuke, the guy who was staring at her last week, sitting next to Naruto. ‘’Um, excuse me’’ She bowed politely and hurried past him – so the both of them worked here…  
  
  
  
Back outside she could hear Ino laughing loudly – she sounded like a pig when she laughed. Naruto was laughing too, what on earth… Sakura approached the table cautiously, not wanting to disturb their conversation. ‘’Ah, you’re back! Finally, we can order, I’m starving!’’ Ino had already decided what she wanted, unlike Sakura who barely looked at the menu.  
  
  
  
‘’Alright ladies, what will it be?’’  
  
  
  
‘’Well, I’m having pancakes, with a small fruit tray.’’  
  
  
  
Sakura blanked, she completely forgot to check over the menu. ‘’um, I’ll have a parfait….’’ She blinked again as Naruto took their menu’s. ‘’I’ll get right to that,’’ He winked and wandered back inside.  
  
  
  
‘’Oh my god, he should totally be your date to the wedding Sakura!!!’’  
  
  
  
‘’my what?’’  
  
  
  
‘’your date! We need more men to walk the bridesmaids down the aisle, duh!’’  
  
  
  
Weddings weren’t Sakura’s thing – she never saw herself getting married, and even if she did, it wouldn’t be a huge blow out – she would want to have a big honey moon overall, not wedding.  The idea of even being her maid-of-honor freaked her out a little more than she could admit to Ino.  
  
  
  
Inside Naruto approached the bar, putting in Sakura and Ino’s order, Sasuke eyed him from behind the bar. ‘’What are you smiling for’’  
  
  
  
‘’that pretty pink haired girl is sitting in my section, she’s got a cute friend too.’’  
  
  
  
Not seeming interested, Sasuke poured him lemonade handing it to him, he looked outside. ‘’you mean the girl from last week right? I saw her earlier’’  
  
  
  
‘’Oh really,’’ A perverted look on Naruto’s face made Sasuke shake his head.  
  
  
  
‘’why are you so interested anyway dobe, she’s obviously not good news having to be protected by the head officer in the police force,’’ He poured himself a glass of water, taking a small sip before getting judged by the blonde.  
  
  
  
‘’you’re just jealous cause you’re stuck with your shitty crazy girlfriend Karin’’  
  
  
  
‘’Karin isn’t my girlfriend,’’  
  
  
  
‘’Yeah but you sleep with her, don’t you? Or use to, I don’t remember – you sleep with a lot of women man… I don’t know how you keep track of em’all.’’ Naruto rubbed the back of his neck. ‘’anyway, I invited them to our event in two weeks, we are supposed to invite pretty girls…’’He laughed, hearing their order come up. ‘’Anyway! Lighten up Uchiha!’’  
  
  
  
Back outside the girls were talking back and forth about Ino’s wedding, and how beautiful it would be – Sakura didn’t want to seem uninterested…she was her best friend after all. ‘’So when are you going back to work?’’  
  
  
  
‘’Most likely after the weekend,’’ Sakura shrugged, finally having told Ino all of what happened – she didn’t freak out as badly as Sakura thought she might. ‘’Anyway, thanks for lunch, I should go-‘’  
  
  
  
‘’-Before you do…’’ She looked nervous, half-smiling. ‘’I sort of agreed to come to this event with Naruto…you have to come too…’’  
  
  
  
‘’Ino!’’  
  
  
  
‘’I’m sorry! He’s so cute! Maybe he has friends!’’ She continued smiling, putting her hands up in a defense, Sakura sighed, shaking her head. ‘’I’ll call you later Ino’’  
  
  
  
Back at the office Kakashi was researching some info on some of Hidan’s odd killings, comparing the new to the old – he most definitely wasn’t alone in any of what he was doing, but he couldn’t exactly figure it out, why would someone set him up as a dog… Kakashi was smarter than a lot of people – but he just couldn’t figure it out, there were absolutely no leads, whatsoever.  Re-visiting the crime-scene with Shikamaru that afternoon was all he could think of. ‘’I just don’t understand it,’’ He kicked a small pile of hay, all of the blood had been cleaned – the rotting smell was faint, but the area was blocked off, having a cop on duty to keep an eye out in case any troublemakers came by. ‘’We have no leads, none’’ The disappointment in his voice was clear, and Shikamaru knew it – but he was doing all he could, he had his best men on it.  
  
  
  
‘’Well, what we’ve gathered thus far, Hidan was hired by someone; he was their dog, basically framing himself for someone else’s work.’’  
  
  
  
‘’Not technically,’’ Kakashi lit up a cigarette, wandering around where the entire massacre was filmed. ‘’Hidan was being framed for the previous slaughters, but this one we saw him in the film, doing what he does best…I have a theory that the previous killings were set up to be Hidan, when in reality they were just using him – and someone else was doing the dirty work, but as for this recent one – it was Hidan, he was psychotic, and he snapped; killing two innocent people.’’ He explained, unable to stand still. ‘’Hidan was framed, we just don’t know by who…the previous murders in this case…they weren’t just innocent people’’ He sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose, exhaling smoke.  
  
  
  
Shikamaru rubbed the back of his neck, tired from the long hours he worked, today was supposed to be his day off. ‘’We have some leads, sir…but they’re not confirmed. We’re doing our best.’’  
  
  
  
‘’Well your best isn’t good enough Shikamaru,’’ He snapped, looking at the time – it was getting late. ‘’We should go, ‘’  
  
  
  
‘’Yeah…’’ Shikamaru followed, and they left the scene.


	3. Chapter 2

_The majority of diagnosed psychopaths,_ and murderers that Sakura interviewed were men – except today, Monday morning, unfortunately women are not immune to the condition. This woman admitted to causing blunt-force trauma to the head of any person she kidnapped before stabbing them specifically 105 times, but the person they found barely alive was only stabbed 25 times.  Re-watching the video, Sakura took note of her unwavering responses to every question, she would just start giggling like a school girl – she could turn off fear and remorse like it was a button, the woman’s name was Konan, she was known for her art skills a long time ago, before she snapped.  ‘’So you believe she’s being set up too, Sakura?’’  
  
  
  
Biting on her pen, she stared down at the soundless video, watching Konan’s reactions from their previous sessions – if there were any at all. It didn’t surprise Sakura, she was use to this – she was just trying to figure out more dirt on the Hidan case, and asking similar cases didn’t hurt, and she didn’t have a choice, it was her job to talk to these criminals whether she liked it or not.  Though, this time she had a police officer in the room with her, just in case.  ‘’Konan doesn’t leave me to believe she’s part of it…she’s just crazy,’’ Sakura shrugged before dropping onto the leather couch in Kakashi’s office.   
  
  
  
It’d been about two weeks from the incident with Hidan,  Sakura started to feel less and less as the days went on but she was also getting more information on Suigetsu as well; she wanted to know who he was, where he came from, anything she could really…  
  
  
  
‘’so why is it you need information on my officers?’’  
  
  
  
Ah, he knew – of course, what didn’t Kakashi know?  Pushing herself upright, sitting properly she stared. ‘’sense of security, mainly.’’  
  
  
  
‘’Do you not feel safe here, sakura?’’  
  
  
  
Shaking her head, she grabbed her clip bored, pressing pause on the video on Konan. ‘’no, I don’t, because the guy human resources hired and the guy you approved through human resources, wasn’t on his post, I was nearly raped and killed – so no Sir, I don’t feel safe, not now, not since then.’’ She explained, taking the folder on Suigetsu. ‘’So If you don’t mind, I’d like to know all there is to know about this new cop you hired, if that’s okay with you.’’  
  
  
  
The attitude and seriousness in her voice caught Kakashi a little off guard; she was definitely right, maybe hiring someone new was a bad idea – but whatever, he didn’t care, she was safe now. ‘’Well alright then,’’ He half-smiled at her watching her route through the pages upon pages of information, she would ask Sai about him…but she didn’t trust Sai, not after the way he acted – she hadn’t seen Ino or Sai in quite some time with the wedding coming up next week.  
  
  
  
There was an abrupt knock on the door, walking in was Shikamaru. ‘’sir, I do apologize for the interruption but we have someone with Intel on the Hidan case.’’ He glanced at Sakura who looked as equally as interested as Kakashi. ‘’She’s willing to cooperate as long as we can guarantee her safety.’’  
  
  
  
A cocked brow, Kakashi stood up. ‘’why would we need to guarantee her safety, Shikamaru…’’  
  
  
  
He didn’t answer, he merely gave him a look. ‘’She’s sitting in my office, we didn’t handcuff her but, she had quite a bit of detail,’’ He paused. ‘’I don’t know if it would be appropriate for Sakura to attend,’’  
  
  
  
‘’Nonsense,’’ Sakura snapped. ‘’I need an explanation to Hidan just as much as the two of you. Its Kakashi’s bad hiring skills that almost got me killed.’’  
  
  
  
She wasn’t wrong… but she was stepping out of line – but he knew she was right. ‘’No, it’s alright Shikamaru she can come.’’  
  
  
  
  
  
The woman sitting in Shikamaru’s office was the same woman who was once working for Orochimaru… but it wasn’t that simple to just leave as you pleased; not with that line of work. She looked a little pale, and to be in pain – not having gone to the hospital when she got stabbed, her wound had gotten slightly infected; Juugo had first-aid, but he didn’t have the proper tools to stitch her wound properly.  The infection was spreading, but it wasn’t incurable, she would go to the hospital as soon as the confirmed her safety, maybe have an escort.  ‘’So this is the woman?’’ Kakashi wandered in, her red hair looked brighter than it was in the dimly lit office.  
  
  
  
Shikamaru nodded. ‘’She’s willing to confess to everything, no interrogation needed this time.’’  
  
  
  
Sakura stood leaning against the door, why was this woman confessing? She noticed the way she sat, and how she grasped her side – looking to be in pain. ‘’Sir, she looks to be in pain…’’  
  
  
  
‘’I am,’’ Karin spat, wincing. ‘’That mother fucker stabbed me’’  
  
  
  
‘’Who?’’  
  
  
  
‘’My boss, Orochimaru’’  
  
  
  
Kakashi sat across from Karin, fingers folded neat. ‘’Tell us everything, and we’ll guarantee your safety to the best of our abilities.’’  
  
  
  
‘’Orochimaru isn’t the main guy in this stupid thing, all I know is that he’s the one who set up Hidan – Hidan was killing all of those people, but only by Orochimaru’s choice; he set everything up, Hidan just happened to break under pressure’’ Karin coughed, feeling blood in her mouth. ‘’I don’t know much else, I just know he’s fucking crazy.’’  
  
  
  
‘’So what were you to this Orochimaru,’’ Kakashi heard the name before – he was a criminal, but it’d been years since his release...but clearly he was working under someone. ‘’Do you know who Orochimaru’s boss is, is there anything else you can tell us? Why is he setting up these killings, please, tell us all that you can.’’  
  
  
  
‘’I don’t fucking know, I worked for him – you know, walked his dog and shit-‘’ She was lying, Sakura could tell. ‘’He just stabbed me because I wouldn’t do something for him.’’  
  
  
  
‘’She’s _lying_.’’ Sakura stated, staring her down.  
  
  
  
‘’Fuck you bitch, I’m not lying.’’  
  
  
  
Kakashi sighed heavily; she wasn’t exactly answering his questions. ‘’Alright, take her to the medic…we’ll question her more once her memory isn’t so clouded with pain…’’  
  
  
  
Shikamaru left with Karin, leaving Kakashi and Sakura alone once more. ‘’She’s lying,’’  
  
  
  
‘’How can you tell, exactly?’’  
  
  
  
Sakura headed for the door. ‘’It’s my job. Anyway, tell me what she says later, I have to be somewhere.’’  
  
  
  
It wasn’t exactly a lie, Sakura had to go meet up with Ino for her dress fitting, but the last person she expected was there. ‘’Yo!’’ Naruto, a big dumb grin on his big dumb face pissed off Sakura more than she liked to admit – great, more company she didn’t need.  
  
  
  
‘’Oh, why are you here?’’  
  
  
  
‘’Ino invited me, duh’’ His smile widened, she just wanted to punch him so hard his teeth would fall out – why was he always so cheerful…she wandered in the back where Ino sat in her gorgeous wedding dress, glass of champagne in her hand – came with buying a dress, they fed you alcohol and sweets. ‘’You made it!’’ She ran over, twirling. ‘’Isn’t it gorgeous?’’  
  
  
  
It really was, strapless and all. ‘’Ino you look beautiful,’’ She smiled, she really did look lovely – she couldn’t deny it, jealousy was hitting at her heart. ‘’Uh…’’ She blinked, noticing Sasuke slumping into one of the chairs. ‘’…who’s he?’’ Even though she knew exactly who he was, she acted clueless.  
  
  
  
‘’Oh!! That’s naruto’s absolutely gorgeous best friend!’’  
  
  
  
‘’I don’t want to be here,’’ Sasuke announced. ‘’He dragged me.’’  
  
  
  
Sakura nodded. ‘’Um, right,’’ She blinked, wide-eyed – jeez he was attractive, she bit her bottom lip and went back to Ino.  
  
  
  
‘’I can’t believe you’re here, you idiot! Do you have any idea what they’re gonna do to you if they found out you gave Orochimaru up to the cops!! Come on Karin, how fucking stupid do you have to be?’’  
  
  
  
The tarnished lights in the medic’s room made everything seem dark and gloomy – the medic had just finished stitching Karin up, after writing a prescription for the infection, and gave her a few pain killers – she was handcuffed to the chair she sat in…just a precaution of Kakashi’s incase she decided to leave last minute, the cuff itself hurt – though she wouldn’t tell Suigetsu that, who had the key…so she was technically stuck there, if she wanted she could spread her legs and he would let her go, it was easy. ‘’Would you keep that big mouth of yours closed,’’ Her tone was but a whisper, noises in this place echoed – she noticed that earlier on when the medic was speaking to her. ‘’Don’t get your panties in a knot, Sui…I’m fine, and so are you.’’ Her painted red lips curved. ‘’no fucking way was I continuing to work with Orochimaru – he fucking stabbed me, because of you.’’  
  
  
  
‘’Because of me, what the fuck did I do,’’  
  
  
  
‘’you know what you did,’’ She winced as she crossed her legs. ‘’Damn pain…we went behind his back, technically,’’  
  
  
  
‘’I don’t work for Orochimaru, he’s just pissed off that I went up to the bigger leads, which means technically I work for his boss.’’  
  
  
  
‘’yeah well, Orochimaru doesn’t see it that way. He sees it as betrayal – you’re lucky he hasn’t had you killed yet.’’  
  
  
  
Suigetsu crossed his arms as he leaned against the wall, watching her. ‘’well I’m not too worried, you shouldn’t be either, he shouldn’t have stabbed you.’’  
  
  
  
The atmosphere was thick with tension as the door opened, Kakashi stood with Shikamaru. ‘’We’ll be holding you over night, Karin’’ He explained, looking just as tired as ever. ‘’Now that we have some information on Orochimaru, we would like to do some research before we ask any further questions, you’ll be escorted by Suigetsu and another officer of mine, and in the morning, we’ll talk – you’ll be watched, and protected by two officers – so your safety is guaranteed.’’ He looked at Suigetsu, and back at Shikamaru. ‘’Officer Nara will escort you and the officers to your sleeping quarters…’’ He looked at the clock, it was close to supper. ‘’I’ll see you in the early morning, so you best be prepared to answer anything we have for you.’’ He warned, leaving them with Shikamaru before departing himself.  
  
  
  
Meanwhile, at Ino’s dress fitting – she was on about her fifth or seventh dress by this point, on her third or fourth drink of champagne, but it was most definitely watered down – if it wasn’t, the blonde would be plastered by this point in time, however she wasn’t. ‘’So tell me again why you invited tweedle-dee and tweedle-dumb…’’  
  
  
  
Ino smacked Sakura’s shoulder. ‘’Sakura, come on! They’re nice, besides, It wasn’t like you were super available today, and you’re supposed to be my maid of honour, maybe you’re not worthy of the title, I mean…look at Naruto – ‘’  
  
  
  
The blonde had on a tiara and was dancing around Sasuke like the sugar plumb fairy herself…he didn’t look bad – Sakura’s head tilted and she sighed, not understanding how Ino made friends so quickly. ‘’Okay so how long are we going to be here,’’ She followed Ino into her dressing room as she stripped off her final dress and stepped into some casual sweats.  
  
  
  
‘’Well…actually,’’ She smiled, biting her lip. ‘’Would you mind if they came to your house…’’  
  
  
  
‘’Uh…’’ She blinked, looking at Naruto and Sasuke through a crack in the door. ‘’Why exactly…’’  
  
  
  
Ino pulled a t-shirt over her head and grabbed the dress beneath her feet. ‘’well because we’re invited to their work event…and I really want to go….and you have to come with me! Since I am the bride and all, you have to.’’  
  
  
  
It wasn’t like she had a choice; what harm could it do…letting in two complete strangers into her house…after already being attacked in a place she thought she was safe, but it wasn’t as if she had much of a choice – Ino would never let her live it down if she didn’t agree to any of this.  It wasn’t like she didn’t want to know them…sure they seemed like nice people – but her trust was lacking in anyone lately; but since she didn’t have a choice, her and Ino jumped in Sakura’s car, and Naruto and Sasuke followed in Sasuke’s car…great, now they were going to know where she lived…just great.  
  
  
  
‘’Is this where you live Ino, this place is beautiful! Not like my place at all,’’ Naruto wandered into Sakura’s apartment like it was his own, going straight for the fridge. ‘’man, I’m starving!’’  
  
  
  
‘’It’s actually Sakura’s place,’’ She informed him, wandering behind him – leaving Sasuke in the door way with Sakura, how awkward.  
  
  
  
‘’Um…’’ She looked at him wide-eyed. ‘’Make yourself at home…’’ Without another word from her and before Sasuke could even get a word in, she bolted for the bathroom in her room – she needed cold water splashed against her face, she felt as if she was having an anxiety attack in her own apartment. Slamming the door, she nearly collapsed as she reached the sink – turning the tap and instantly soaking her face, and the back of her neck with crisp cold water. Hearing Naruto rattle around her kitchen, she glanced in the mirror – she’d been doing that a lot lately since the attack, unsure as to why – sense of security. Not looking tired for once, she blushed; that cute guy was in her apartment, well two cute guys – one of them seemed interesting, but the black haired guy named Sasuke just put her on edge.  
  
  
  
‘’Hey! Sakura hurry it up!’’  
  
  
  
Oh god, did Ino bring them into her bedroom! HER BED WASN’T MADE. ‘’Oh lord…’’ She dried her face, and she was right – Ino had brought them both into her bedroom…but the bed was made, thankfully. Inhaling a breath of relief, she eyed Ino in her walk-in closet. ‘’So, where exactly are we going…’’  
  
  
  
‘’It’s an event at the café’.’’ Naruto explained, lying on her bed holding a pillow – as if they were old friends or something. ‘’Invite only,’’ He was grinning, go figure.  Her room was large, with hard-wood flooring, a small balcony leading outside over a pretty nice view – that’s where Sasuke was, standing just at the door of the balcony – the fresh air felt nice no matter how the weather was.  
  
  
  
  
  
Glasses clattered together as Itachi brought them down from a high shelf in the bar; getting everything organized for the event tonight – it was his bar, Naruto and Sasuke just happened to run things with him – they were running late, but that wasn’t anything new for Naruto, but for Sasuke…he felt somewhat suspicious with everything going on lately – he use to work for Orochimaru, amongst his other so called family members…family members that were willing to betray you without a second thought – he shook his head, glancing at Shikamaru who was sitting at the bar, and had been for about an hour now…something was up – and he knew it.  
  
  
  
‘’Listen Nara, I don’t know what you want me to tell you; I’m not in that game anymore, you already know this.’’ Itachi informed him, wiping the sweat from his brow – the black shirt he wore complimented his very nicely toned arms as he continued moving heavy boxes of glasses and alcohol. ‘’Besides, tonight is the event, so unless you have an invite, we’re closed.’’ He was half-smiling, half serious at this point. ‘’I can’t have any more people I love getting in trouble, especially not Sasuke.’’ He explained, though it sounded more like a warning to Shikamaru than anything.  It wasn’t like Itachi enjoyed trouble – he might have once upon a time, but he was getting too old for this drama.  
  
  
  
‘’I’m surprised your uncle is letting you off so easily, that isn’t like him.’’ Shikamaru grabbed his jacket and left a twenty on the bar before pulling his keys and his cigarettes out of his pockets.  
  
  
  
‘’Those will kill you,’’  
  
  
  
‘’There are worse things than cigarettes…’’He waved, and went on his way back to the office – though they wouldn’t be confronting miss Karin until tomorrow morning, so more research for the rest of the night.  
  
  
  
‘’I can’t believe I’m going out with a bunch of strangers,’’ Sakura sighed, rubbing the back of her neck as her and Ino followed the boys in, finding a booth-like seat. ‘’Sasuke has to help his brother behind the bar, but I’ll keep you guys company!’’ Naruto was grinning, they had one or two drinks at Sakura’s, but that didn’t explain how much energy he had – she already felt like climbing into bed and passing out for who knows how long.  
  
  
  
‘’Oh come on! I invited Sai and his friends too,’’ Ino was smiling – great, now she could just feel uneasy the rest of the night; she sighed. ‘’I’m getting a drink,’’  
  
  
  
Approaching the bar wasn’t as chaotic as Sakura assumed – the ‘event’ the boys invited them to was a small, business like event, and Sakura felt completely out of place and under dressed in her blue jeans and a tank-top. ‘’Well this isn’t awkward at all…’’ She mumbled plopping down in a bar stood, Itachi overheard her and smiled. ‘’Feeling out of place?’’ He was drying a very large glass, Sakura noticed the distinctive features, he must be Sasuke’s older brother, unable to help herself she turned a shade of red and looked down – jeez, what was it with these Uchiha guys, she looked back up and awkwardly – but Sai interrupted her train of thought. ‘’Itachi, so nice to see you again;’’ Sai was standing next to Ino, who was now standing next to Sakura. ‘’You’ve met my fiance’s good friend Sakura, she works with Kakashi you know,’’ He winked – Sakura’s paranoia was right, something was most definitely off…but she couldn’t figure out what.  
  
  
  
‘’Oh, you must be Sasuke’s older brother!’’ Ino smiled, curling her finger around her pony tail. ‘’I must say, you Uchiha are quite attractive!’’ Giggling, Sakura moved passed her half-intoxicated bride to be and headed for the washroom; only to be stopped by Naruto. ‘’Well this seems familiar!’’ He was grinning; she didn’t have time for this – grabbing him by the collar, and with strength she didn’t know she possessed, yanked him into the girl’s washroom – and slammed him into a stall, covering his mouth – as two ladies wandered out of different stalls.  
  
  
  
‘’Oh my gosh, the bartender is cute!’’  
  
  
  
‘’I know, so is the waiters! I should apply here!’’  
  
  
  
Their voices echoed as the door closed, and Sakura took the opportunity to lock the bathroom door from the inside, so no one could get in.  
  
  
  
‘’Whoa, what’s up with you!’’ Thankfully he wasn’t drinking like Ino had been, that grin was still on his face which just annoyed the stressed out pinkette. ‘’Listen,’’ She grabbed him by the collar again, pulling him out of the stall, nearly falling into one of the sinks – he managed to catch himself, suddenly worried. ‘’man, what’s going on – this is weird, even for someone I just technically met,’’  
  
  
  
‘’Listen,’’ She rubbed the back of her neck. ‘’My best friends fiancé is a bad guy, and I’m afraid he’s going to hurt her, and I’m also afraid he’s going to hurt me, or worse.’’  
  
  
  
The confusion on his face grew, and then he smiled. ‘’is this some kind of a joke? Did Sasuke put you up to this?’’  
  
  
  
‘’No!’’ She wanted to hit him. ‘’This isn’t a joke okay?! I work for the cops!!’’ She was wide-eyed and panicked and Naruto could see it on her face. ‘’You’re really not okay…’’ The smile faded on his face, down to a somewhat pale look. ‘’What’s going on exactly…’’  
  
  
  
‘’You seem like a nice guy,’’ She sighed, she shouldn’t have brought him into this but it was too late now. ‘’That guy out there beside Ino, his name is Sai – her fiancé…and he’s always been weird, but lately I’ve been noticing it more and more after… meeting his friend, who’s technically a cop – but the thing is I don’t think he’s a cop! And ugh, because of him I was attacked, and I don’t know, the whole thing – I’m just going crazy.’’  
  
  
  
‘’Wait, attacked?’’ Naruto blinked, wide-eyed; Sakura sighed. ‘’I’m a psychiatrist, I work with the criminals….and one of them attacked me a few weeks ago,’’ She sighed. ‘’The cop who was supposed to be on duty wasn’t and it turns out he’s good friends with Sai.’’ She ran a hand through her hair. ‘’I shouldn’t even be telling you, but I didn’t know how else to get you to shut up.’’  
  
  
  
‘’You could of kissed me,’’ He grinned, making light of the dark situation – but that only lead to Sakura giving him the stink eye, she came so close to punching him that time. ‘’this isn’t a game,’’ She paused – there was loud banging on the door. ‘’Yo! Whoever locked this door better come out!’’  
  
  
  
It was Sasuke’s voice; a few people must have tried to come in – Sakura hadn’t realized how long they’d been in there; she sighed, and unlocked the door before Sasuke physically kicked it in – he stared at both Naruto and Sakura. ‘’Sorry Sasuke! We were just talking,’’ Naruto was grinning, and Sakura looked less than amused as she passed Sasuke. ‘’Naruto was being pervy, just like the first-time,’’ She muttered, assuming Sasuke knew about what happened at the ramen hut. Wandering past him, eyeing the bar, Sai was still there – with Ino, talking to Itachi, but Itachi himself didn’t look overly please, something was definitely up.  
  
  
  
‘’I have to go,’’ She moved passed a few women crowding toward the washroom, before getting grabbed by Sasuke, which was completely unlikely – and pulled her into a backroom before even Naruto noticed. ‘’Hey! What’s your deal!’’ He threw her into the leather coach in the back office, it reminded her of Kakashi’s office…what was with the whole leather coach…he slammed, and locked the door – looking rather pissed off. ‘’Who do you work for!?’’ He yelled, looking as if he may strike her.   
  
  
  
Pushing herself up off of the leather coach, hair a mess, she turned back – half on the coach, half off, looking disoriented. ‘’What the hell! What’s your deal! You can’t just throw someone around like that!’’  
  
  
  
‘’I can do whatever the fuck I please,’’ He crossed his arms, and leaned against the door – implying to her that she wasn’t going anywhere until she answered him. ‘’Now fess up, who the fuck do you work for.’’  
  
  
  
What the hell was this guy’s deal, she didn’t do anything wrong, If anything he was wrong for throwing her into his office without an explanation. ‘’I work with the cops! Jesus! I’m a fucking psychiatrist, what the hell gives you any right to throw me into a room like that!’’ Her temper flared – she always did have a bad one when she let it shine; he looked at her, unmoving for a few minutes – silence and mainly heavy breathing from Sakura. ‘’If you work for the police, then why are you hanging around such a scum bag,’’  
  
  
  
Straightening her tank top, and calming herself – she stood, staring. ‘’who are you talking about’’  
  
  
  
‘’don’t play dumb, the guy, Suigetsu, your friends fiancé.’’  
  
  
  
So he was really a scum bag. ‘’Listen,’’ She pushed her hair behind her ears and sighed, almost wanting to laugh. ‘’I don’t know him like you think I do.’’ She paused. ‘’All I know is that recently I found out he’s friends with a dirty cop – and that’s all I’m aware of, before that, I just thought he was really weird…’’  
  
  
  
Sasuke didn’t move, he just stared at her.  
  
  
  
‘’So what’s your deal with him, and what can you tell me, because I seriously don’t need my friend involved in all of this.’’  
  
  
  
‘’you’re just a psychiatrist, aren’t you?’’ Damn, he must have heard the end of her conversation with Naruto, that wasn’t a good thing - she sighed, wanting to leave the office; needing some fresh air at this point. ‘’I’ll tell you everything you need to know, as long as you tell me your side of the story…just not here,’’  
  
  
  
Not moving momentarily, he stared, and finally unlocked the office door. ‘’Meet me at this address,’’ Grabbing one of Itachi’s business cards, he wrote down an address. ‘’Don’t tell anyone where you’re going.’’ He warned, opening the door. ‘’I’ll see you there,’’  
  
  
  
Back out in the open, more people in suits had turned up – they were all mainly around the bar, where drunken Ino amused most of them. ‘’Jesus…’’ She glanced over to the booth and noticed Naruto sitting there solo, he looked pretty bummed out – she didn’t have to meet Sasuke for another two hours – after the bar closed.  He seemed like a nice guy, so she approached him. ‘’Do you wanna get something to eat?’’ She half-smiled, looking a little overtired.  
  
  
  
Before he could answer, Sai wandered over with drunken Ino hanging off of his arm. ‘’Do you mind taking her home, Sakura?’’  
  
  
  
She stood there silently for a moment – she never noticed until now, Ino was always getting shit-faced around Sai, she was never sober, not even when she could be…suspicions grew higher, Naruto took Ino from Sai and literally picked her up, bridal style. ‘’I’ll help you get her home,’’ He was half-smiling. ‘’Then maybe we can grab a bite?’’  
  
  
  
Sakura nodded, food sounded amazing at this point.  
  
  
  
Driving to Ino’s felt like a bad idea, Sakura felt uneasy since the whole encounter with Sasuke – he just confirmed her suspicions about Sai; so she headed for her apartment instead, least she would be somewhat safe there. ‘’She’s heavier than she looks…’’ He mumbled, slightly laughing – unless he was joking, Sakura hoped he was, even she could pick up Ino. Inside, she felt somewhat relieved, she always felt safest in her own home – least she did. ‘’Where should I put her,’’  
  
  
  
‘’Guest bedroom,’’ Sakura half-smiled, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge; Ino wasn’t one to get sick when she drank, but she usually woke up in the middle of the night dehydrated, so leaving a bottle of water would keep her from going to the kitchen – after Naruto put her into bed, he met Sakura back out in the kitchen. ‘’you’re a good friend,’’ he was smiling – like always, but she was starting not to mind it so much.  She felt like Ino’s mother more so than her friend as of lately – she thought all the drinking was pre-marital nerves but it wasn’t at all; ‘’Naruto,’’ She grabbed him a cup of coffee. ‘’Earlier, Sasuke pulled me into his office…he thought I was someone else,’’  
  
  
  
Naruto sighed heavily, rubbing the back of his neck – it wasn’t really his place, and she wasn’t supposed to tell anyone – but the two of them seemed very close. ‘’I’m not really supposed to tell you anything.’’ He watched her pour boiling water into his cup, and then hers – it smelled delicious, making his mouth water, she handed him the cup, and sat across from him.  
  
  
  
‘’well, I told him some, so now I want answers. Ino is my best friend, and I can’t risk anything happening to her.’’  
  
  
  
A loud knock was heard from the front door and instantly sakura felt uneasy. ‘’I should get that,’’  
  
  
  
‘’No, I will,’’ Naruto half-grinned and walked to the door – and as he opened it, both Kakashi and Sasuke were standing there. ‘’Uh…funny seeing you here,’’ He blinked, wide-eyed; Sasuke looked pissed, and Kakashi just looked tired. ‘’Come on in…hey Sakura,’’  
  
  
  
Rounding the corner, Sakura almost fell over when she saw her boss and Sasuke together. ‘’Uh…hey sir, er….why are you-‘’  
  
  
  
‘’Sasuke came to me,’’ He explained, removing his jacket. ‘’He thought you were the enemy….’’He muttered, bad choice of words. ‘’So I told him everything that’s been going on –‘’  
  
  
  
‘’why would you tell him?’’ Sakura asked, brow arched – though she would have found out from Naruto If they hadn’t showed up, and later from Sasuke when she met with him.  
  
  
  
‘’Grab me some coffee, it’s a long story.’’  
  
  
  
It really was a long story; The Uchiha name had been tainted for decades – Itachi Uchiha wasn’t a known criminal but he did do the dirty work for his uncle Madara Uchiha; his father was killed, and so was his mother, and that’s why he chose to get out when he did. Itachi Uchiha never killed anyone, but he did other means of criminal activity.  He was a kid, and once he realized what he’d been doing, and the murder of his parents – he stopped; and hid the truth from Sasuke for a while until as of lately. Madara Uchiha and Obito Uchiha, both mobsters…if that’s what you would call them, were responsible for some of the most horrific slaughters in the world – but they never got caught – the police force and investigators were aware of Madara and Obito but they hadn’t heard of the criminals working for them; they only just now heard of Orochimaru, and recently caught Hidan – but after talking with Sasuke, Kakashi was aware of Sai, amongst other names;  and Sakura needed to get Ino out of there before it was too late.  
  
  
  
‘’So you’re saying Sai is working for a scum bag, is it Orochimaru?’’  
  
  
  
Kakashi shook his head, they weren’t sure who it was – they just knew Ino wasn’t safe around him. ‘’I knew something wasn’t right, what about Suigetsu?’’  
  
  
  
Kakashi sighed, running a hand through his hair – he was on his second cup of coffee. ‘’We have Suigetsu under watch, though he doesn’t know it yet…I shouldn’t have hired him, I’m sorry Sakura.’’ He placed his cup down and looked at Naruto and Sasuke. ‘’As for Sasuke and Naruto, they just happened to get dragged in, like you, which could be a problem’’  
  
  
  
‘’How are we a problem at all, if anything, we helped.’’ Sasuke defended, not having any tea or coffee himself, he just wanted to know all the information he could – staring down both Kakashi and Sakura. ‘’So you killed one guy, and you’re aware of someone else, is that all you got?’’  
  
  
  
‘’we have a woman in for interrogation tomorrow morning,’’ He looked at Sakura. ‘’Apparently Orochimaru is a little twisted,’’  
  
  
  
‘’Jeez,’’ Naruto rubbed the back of his neck, chowing down on some left over seven layered taco dip. ‘’So the guy you caught, the murderer, he attacked you Sakura?’’  
  
  
  
‘’unfortunately, all thanks to Suigetsu,’’  
  
  
  
‘’Suigetsu?’’ Sasuke clued in, not having noticed the name previously. ‘’And the woman you’re interrogating, what was her name,’’ He exchanged glances with Naruto.  
  
  
  
‘’Her name is Karin,’’ Sakura looked at him, suspicious. ‘’Do you know them?’’  
  
  
  
‘’Not technically,’’  
  
  
  
‘’Oh come on Sasuke, Karin is so into him – it’s kind of weird.’’ Blabbing, Sasuke almost lunged onto Naruto for saying anything at all. ‘’What! It’s true!!’’  
  
  
  
‘’so you know them?’’ Kakashi asked, but Sasuke shook his head. ‘’I’ve met Karin, and Suigetsu once or twice through Itachi back when, but I was never aware of their line of work – ‘’ He wasn’t lying, he really didn’t. ‘’They just came to the bar often, for drinks and food, but they never discussed work, or complained about it.’’ Crossing his arms, he finally sat down – tired of standing for two hours, after all that talking.  Having both Sasuke, and Naruto involved wasn’t exactly uncommon – it was more of a help. ‘’I don’t think your brother would want you involved, Sasuke.’’ Kakashi warned, pushing himself up. ‘’Anyway, don’t speak a word of this to anyone – especially you, Sasuke, we can’t have this getting into the wrong hands.’’ Grabbing his jacket, he moved to the door. ‘’I’ll see you in the morning, Sakura?’’  
  
  
  
‘’Yes sir, sorry for all of this’’ She bowed her head – feeling somewhat defeated. Though, there wasn’t really a reason to – she helped more than anything.


End file.
